C. Gadenne et al., Transient post-mating inhibition of behavioural and central nervous responses to sex pheromone in an insect, P ROY SOC B, 268(1476), 2001, pp. 1631-1635
Citations number
28
Categorie Soggetti
Experimental Biology
Journal title
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Mating is costly for both male and female insects and should therefore only
occur if it is likely to be successful. Within one scotophase, which is th
e dark period of the light cycle, male moths can only produce one single sp
ermatophore, which is transferred to the female during mating. Remating wit
hin the same scotophase would thus be unsuccessful. We tested the hypothesi
s that newly mated males of the moth Agrotis ipsilon have developed an ener
gy-saving strategy based on the transient inhibition of their sexual behavi
our, thus avoiding unsuccessful remating. Agrotis ipsilon males do not copu
late more than once during the same scotophase. Moreover, newly mated males
do not respond behaviourally to the female sex pheromone although electroa
ntennograms showed that their peripheral olfactory system is fully function
al. However, intracellular recordings of antennal lobe neurons showed that
the sensitivity for the synthetic sex pheromone blend decreased as compared
with that of unmated males. Both the sexual behaviour and the sensitivity
of the antennal lobe neurons were restored when tested during the next scot
ophase. Our results show a fast, transient neuronal plasticity that 'switch
es off' the olfactory system, which could prevent males from mating unsucce
ssfully.